... Is it safe?

I was totally surprised to look out this afternoon and see a Red-winged Blackbird (agelaius phoeniceus) on the cherry tree! This is their season to mate, but they nest along marshes, not in the backyards. In fact, this is only the second time I've ever seen one in our yard, the last time being just a day before the massive fall snow storm last October. So, since he is a rare visitor, I felt he deserved to be blipped. These birds are considered by many to be pests, especially farmers since blackbirds love to swoop into corn and wheat fields by the hundreds or thousands. However, I think they are quite beautiful. I was hoping this one would put on a bit of a display so that you could see his brilliant flash of red on the upper wing, but he was quite timid and cautious, even when he finally ventured to the bistro on the deck.

I had another relatively lazy day - too chilly and bleak out to work outside. However, it was non-stop birds at the bistro, so I enjoyed sitting on the sofa, tea in one hand, Big Daddy propped against the window with the other. Lots of courtship behavior, including a stunning acrobatic display by one of the nuthatch pairs that involved the male spinning around a slender branch several times, like a Russian gymnast working the high bar, before giving his mate a seed. Yea, I know, where the hell was Big Daddy then? Oops.

I started the day outside trying to remember how to photograph drops of water. Been a while. I ended up with a ND2 and a 2x close up filter. Still need to work on that. I posted the result, as well as a close up of the blue jay's surprisingly long tongue, Extreme Seymour's surprisingly pink tongue, and the Red-bellied Woopeckers surprisingly skinny tongue. If you'd care to have a look, there are 5 shots on my What else I saw today blipfolio

No more nocturnal visitors last night - yay. I will bring the peanut feeders in again tonight, just to be on the safe side.

I thought the chickadees had found another rental that they liked better, but I saw them working on the cottage again for a while this morning, so I think we are still in the running... And, apparently the idea of mating has the chickadees all amped up because several times today they chased the titmice away from the feeders. We will know things have escalated out of control if they take on a blue jay.

Oh, and I finished reading "The Hunger Games" last night - surprisingly great read and I will check out the sequel from the Kindle library as soon as I am able.

Well, the end of a weekend...